


My Blonde Dictionary

by sandys18



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: AU, Al Sah-him, Alternate Universe, Angst, Drama, F/M, Fluff, Nanda Parbat, Romance, bit of sexy times, loa - Freeform, some violence - towards the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-21
Updated: 2015-12-06
Packaged: 2018-03-29 17:53:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3905413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sandys18/pseuds/sandys18
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Al Sah-Him’s eyes drifted to the naked blonde, sleeping tangled between his bed sheets. Muskan, the league called her. However, in the privacy of his bed chambers, she wanted him to call her Felicity – the name, her mother had given her.</p><p>“Felicity,” he mumbled to himself, just because he enjoyed saying her name. He especially liked how her name rolled off his tongue ever so easily, whenever he made love to her. No, not love. Al Sah-Him was incapable of love. He didn’t make love. It was just sex.  She was just his sleeping dictionary – just a woman that warmed his bed and taught him Arabic once every week.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> ***IMPORTANT**** This is an AU and is based on the movie the Sleeping Dictionary.This story assumes that Oliver spent one of his years away from Starling, in Nanda Prabat. And, he's supposed to be the next Ra's. And Felicity in this story is sort of his Arabic Teacher.
> 
> I don't know any Arabic. I used Google translator. The English translations are in square brackets within the same line, but some words and sentences are explained within the conversation as Felicity teaches Oliver. Hope it's not too confusing. 
> 
> I know I'm supposed to be writing the next chapter of Cupid's Angel, but this idea just wouldn't leave me be. (Sorry guys) But, there will only be three chapters to this and I've already finished writing the second one. And I'm starting the third right now. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow or Sleeping Dictionary or the characters in the story or any other thing you find familiar.  
> *** This will have errors, since it's not a beta version****  
> *** This is posted only on AO3 and FF.net.**

**_24th March 2010..._ **

Al Sah-Him’s eyes drifted to the naked blonde, sleeping tangled between his bed sheets. Muskan, the league called her. However, in the privacy of his bed chambers, she wanted him to call her Felicity – the name, her mother had given her.

“Felicity,” he mumbled to himself, just because he enjoyed saying her name. He especially liked how her name rolled off his tongue ever so easily, whenever he made love to her. No, not love. Al Sah-Him was incapable of love. He didn’t make love. It was just sex.  She was just his sleeping dictionary – just a woman that warmed his bed and taught him Arabic once every week.

He leaned back against the window frame and smirked cockily at the wetness he saw glistening between her thighs. He yearned to be inside her at least one more time for the night and he definitely would, later.  He wanted her to rest and regain her energy first.

“Hmm…mmm,” she whimpered softly in her sleep, her hand ghosting over her neck and over the red markings his mouth had made there earlier.

He let his eyes stray to her breasts. The perky mounds rose and fell as she breathed, softest of snores escaping her now and then. The faint smile playing across her lips told him that she was dreaming again and as always, he found himself wondering what she could be dreaming about. He may have even envied her a little for being able to dream so effortlessly, when he had long lost the ability and the freedom to do so. The league had taken that privilege away from him months ago. He now only saw nightmares  - the faces of men he had killed, a man shooting himself on a boat, a woman dying in his arms, a teenage girl crying as she stood over someone’s gravestone.  There were too many of them.  

Though, they all may have meant something to Oliver Queen, to Al Sah-Him - to the man he was now, most of those horrid visions didn’t make much sense.

But, still, those images haunted him every night – except, on Wednesdays. Because, that was the only night Felicity came to his room - dressed in nothing but her bright red robe.

Her presence somehow chased his nightmares away and in just three months, she had become his only solace within Ra’s al Ghul’s fortress.  

Al Sah-Him wasn’t sure if a man like him even deserved the right to seek solace in anything or if solace was even a word allowed to be used in Nanda Parbat. All he knew was that he longed for Wednesday nights such as tonight, where he could sleep peacefully, holding her in his arms.

* * *

 

_His thoughts ran back to the night she first showed up in his room. It was a month after he had joined the league. He remembered Ra’s commending him for beheading another one of his traitors and then sending him to his room, with a promise of an Arabic dictionary._

_Ra’s believed, learning Arabic would help Al Sah-Him better command the league, when he eventually became the next Ra’s al Ghul. Though, Al Sah-Him_ _had wanted to argue that his sword alone was enough to lead his men, he had known better to not to argue with the demon's head. So, he had simply accepted Ra’s suggestion and retreated to his bedroom._

_Hence, when he had heard a soft knock upon his door that night, he had expected another one of Ra’s minions to be standing outside with a book in hand._

_“You can come in,” He had proceeded to take his shirt off, grimacing at the thought of learning one of the most difficult languages in the world by himself._

_He had been struggling to tug his shirt over his head, when he heard the door open and click close. Then, when he had finally gotten rid of the shirt, his eyes had widened at the sight before him. His stomach had done a strange flip as he stared at the woman standing in front of the closed door, clad in red._ _Intriguing pair of blue eyes had stared back at him, from under the hood she wore over her head._

_This had not been the first time Ra’s had sent a woman up to his room and each one of those women had always gazed at his scars with either disgust or pity. Strangely, these blue eyes had shown neither when they had wandered over his bare chest – marred with tattoos and countless number of scars. Her eyes weren’t scrutinizing him as many had done. Instead, she had seemed as if she was openly admiring his physique._

_“Al Sah-Him, your dictionary,” It was when his heart had skipped at the sound of her voice, that Al Sah-Him_ _for the first time in a long while had remembered that he had a heart._

_“Leave it and go,” the soft tone of his voice had surprised even him._

_“I can’t do that.”_

_“Why not?” He remembered feeling a strange pull towards her. The draw had been so strong, he had in fact, taken a step towards her without even realizing it._

_“Because, I am the dictionary.” She had pushed her hood back to reveal her blonde locks - a very rare sight within the fortress._ _”I’m what they call a Sleeping Dictionary,” with that she had dropped her robe off her shoulders._

_For a brief second, his eyes had followed the robe to the floor before travelling up her naked body._

_“They call me Muskan. You can call me Felicity, if you like.” Her fine spun gold like hair was cascading over her bare shoulders and her skin was radiating under the flickering candle light.  One look at her long creamy legs and instantly, he had begun to imagine, how it would feel like to have them wrapped around his body._

_She was petite though- tiny compared to him._

_"Sleeping Dictionary?" He hadn’t known what a Sleeping Dictionary was, but he quickly realized that he could care less about its meaning. The only thing he had known at that moment was that he wanted her._

_He had felt a desperate urge to run his hand down the valley between her breasts, down her toned belly to her pink slit._ _And, not a moment too soon, he had indeed done just that - shoving her against the door behind her._ _He had thrust hard and fast into her, with a hand holding her up by her tiny waist and his lips devouring hers._

_“Al Sah-Him!” She had screamed as she came many times that Wednesday night._

_The name hadn’t sounded right coming out of her mouth though._

_It never did._

_Nonetheless, by the end of the night, he had learned three words._ _العيون،_ _قبلة، and_ _أحمر [ Eyes, Kiss and Red.]He didn’t know how those three words could ever help him command a league full of assassins, but he knew that no brain washing herb in the world would ever be able to make him forget them._

* * *

 

“What are you doing there?” Her voice brought him back to the present. “Come here,” she gestured at the empty spot beside her.

Here he was, Al Sah-Him, Warith al Ghul, the second in command to the league of assassins and he didn’t think twice to follow the orders given by the small blonde woman lying in his bed.

“I want to teach you another word,” she said as he crawled into his side of the bed.

“I thought the lesson was already over?”

 “No, I want to teach you one more word tonight,” She turned to her side to face him.

He ran a finger across her full lips.“How about this? What’s this called?” Oh, how much he loved her lips. Especially, when she kissed. Especially, when she went on a tangent about the most ridiculous topics in the world. She would shift from league politics to how much she didn’t like kangaroos, within just one sentence sometimes.

“ _That_ , you learned on our second lesson,” She pursed her lips and pretended to be angry at her student.

“Then this?” His finger gently wandered down to her collarbone.

“ترقوة  [clavicle] Again, second lesson!” she reminded him.

“Then, this?” He rolled her nipple between his fingers and it was endearing to see her blush even after everything they had done for the last three months. “Or maybe this?”  He let his hand slide down to the soft nub between her legs.

“Maybe next lesson,” she moaned as her hesitant hand pushed his hand away from her slick sex.

“So, what do you want to teach me then?” He just wanted this lesson to be over and done with. He could no longer wait to be inside her and feel her walls clench around his cock again.

“Trust... ثقة” She said.

“ثقة?”  [“ _Trust_?”] He wasn’t sure if he was pronouncing it right.  He waited for his beautiful teacher to correct him if he was wrong.

She nodded slowly, her azure eyes peering into his,  “أنا أثق بك , means I trust you.” She drew the Arabic letters on his chest with her index finger as if to engrave the words into his heart.

He stared at her transfixed. Suddenly, it didn’t feel like just another Arabic lesson to him anymore. It felt as if she was actually saying these words to him. 

 “So… let me here you say it,” she urged him, slapping his arm playfully and waking him up from his daze.

“أنا أثق بك?” [“ _I trust you?”]_ he repeated the line somewhat tentatively.

“Yes, perfect! That’s why you’re my favorite student.”

“Just, how many students do you have exactly?” Something churned inside of him at the thought of Felicity being another man’s Sleeping Dictionary. For some reason, he had never pictured her teaching another assassin. For all these months, whenever he would try to picture what she could be doing when she wasn’t with him, he had imagined her in a bedroom reading a book. And sometimes, he had imagined her scribbling out her thoughts. Sometimes, he had imagined her simply frolicking in the sunlight, away from the doom and gloom of Nanda Parbat. Sometimes he had imagined her lying in her bed, thinking about him.

He had never dared to ask her what she really did when she wasn’t with him or how a woman like her ended up in a hell hole like Nanda Parbat. It was not because he was afraid to learn what her answer would entail. He was just afraid that knowing more about the blonde and especially about her past, would make him get too attach to her.  Because, the heir to the demon, Al Sah-Him shouldn’t get attached to anything.  

“If I didn’t know any better, I would think you are jealous, Al Sah-him,” She giggled.

He flipped her onto her back and got on top of her. “How many?”

“You _are_ jealous!” She looked as though she was about to burst into a fit of laughter.

“Tell me now!” He wasn't jealous!  Why would he  be jealous? He was Warith Al Ghil he could have any woman in Nanda Parbat. He was simply curious.

“No!” She shook her head smiling.

“You dare defy Al Sah-Him, Warith al Ghul?” He gripped her shoulders tightly.

“You dare talk to your teacher in that tone?” She retorted, fully well knowing he could have broken her neck into two if he had wanted to – knowing that he could have ripped her heart out with his bare hands if he had wanted to.

Sometimes, it boggled him how much she trusted him to not to harm her. He wanted to tell her not to trust him so much, because he himself didn’t trust himself. Yet, instead of telling her any of it, he simply called her warningly by her name, “Fe-li-city!”

Her hand reached up and caressed his cheek, “There’s only you, Al Sah-Him. There’s no one else. Only you,” she assured, before planting a soft kiss upon his chin.

“أنا أثق بك” [“I trust you,”] he whispered as he slowly slid inside her. This time, it was going to be tender and soft. It was going to be all about her. He was going to pleasure her in all the ways he could.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to edit some stuff out and put some new scenes in. So it took little more time than i thought to update.  
> And I'm sooo happy to read that you guys really enjoyed it. Thanks for all the great comments and kudos too.
> 
> sorry about all the grammar and spelling mistakes.

**28 th April 2010**

There probably was nothing more picturesque than the sight of naked Felicity, running around in his room on a moon lit night, searching for a wine goblet. Al Sah-Him probably could have laid in his bed and watched her walk around naked the whole night, if he didn’t want to taste her, kiss her, ravish her so badly.

“What’s this?” Felicity asked as she picked something off the floor.

“Just leave it there and come back to bed!” He immediately knew what it was - a tattered photograph of a woman, he had found with his old belongings. He had thought he had hidden that picture away in its usual place, before Felicity came into his chambers – just like he had always done. Yet, tonight, in his eagerness to see his blonde dictionary he seemed to have forgotten to get rid of it.

A part of him felt relieved that he no longer had to keep it a secret from Felicity. Perhaps, he had purposefully been careless with the photograph, because on some level, he had wanted her to accidentally find it. Yet, seeing the worried lines forming on her forehead, the other part of him wished he had ripped that useless photograph apart and thrown it away, the moment he had seen it.

He couldn't help but feel as if he had betrayed his little dictionary somehow.

“Who is she?”  She raised her brows at him.

“Just leave it on the table!" He commanded from the bed.

But, Felicity was harder to control, than the most stubborn assassin in the league. Rather than complying with Warith Al Ghul's orders, she had flipped the photograph over, “There’s something written on the back.” She stepped over to the bed with her eyes glued to the photograph.

“ _To Ollie, with love, L,”_ she read the neat hand writing, which he had read so many times.

He had read it over and over again, thinking it would help him understand what this photograph had been doing in the back pocket of Oliver Queen’s pants.

 He sat up kicking away the silk sheets off of himself. "Fe-li-ci-ty!"

She wasn't the least bit affected by the threatening tone of his voice. “Ollie? Is that… is that your name, Al Sah-him? I mean before you joined the league?” She handed the photograph to him. “And L? Is she -”

 “I can’t remember who she is,” The brunette in the photograph seemed familiar to him, but he couldn’t remember a name. It obviously had to start with an ‘L’, yet a name never really came to mind.

“Maybe she was… is… the woman you love, but left, because you had to join the league?” Felicity sat on the edge of the bed, near his feet.

The woman he loved?  Or the woman he used to love? Those thoughts had crossed his mind more than a few times. But, whenever he stared at the mysterious brunette’s eyes, it had only managed to stir up a deep sense of guilt within him.

Maybe he did love her and he felt guilty for leaving her. Maybe he did love her and he felt guilty for betraying her. Maybe he had loved her but he felt guilty for not being in love with her anymore. Maybe he didn’t love her and he felt guilty for leading her to believe he did.

His fingers tightened around the edges of the photograph.  “I don’t really know, Felicity,” And, honestly it shouldn’t even matter to him. Whatever wrong he had done by this brunette as Oliver Queen, shouldn’t matter to him anymore. He was a heartless man now. He shouldn’t care.

He tossed the photograph onto the bedside stand and looked up, just in time to see his Sleeping Dictionary crawling towards him. She offered him a smile, as if she had known that just one smile from her would be enough to calm the turmoil that had been brewing in his mind.

“So…” She said straddling him.

 He caught her hand on a whim and placed a deft kiss upon her wrist.

 “So, Ollie?” She tilted her head to the side and studied his face. “It doesn’t sound right. You don’t look like an Ollie.”

“It’s short for Oliver,” he finally told her of the only thing he clearly remembered about his past self.

She then touched his chest absent mindedly, her finger tips exploring his blemished skin – leaving a trail of fire in its wake. “Oliver?”  The way she uttered his former name made his heart thump hard in his chest.

 “Oliver and Felicity, we both have very unique names, don’t you think, Oliver?”

His heart began to beat even more wildly and loudly when he heard her say their names tangled together. It sounded right - too right.  And, for that one brief second, he didn’t feel like the unfeeling man he deemed himself to be.

He couldn’t understand how he could have such an intense reaction to something so trivial. It shouldn’t even be possible for a man like Al Sah-Him to feel anything at all.

He siezed her by her waist and dragged her closer, towards him. “Don’t call me that ever again! Do you understand?” His words thundered within the room.

He wasn’t Oliver.  He was Al Sah-him.  To lead the league and to be the next Ra’s, he should be devoid of all emotions.

Emotions made men weaker – made them loose wars. Thus, he couldn’t afford to be Oliver Queen ever again. Not even in the confines of his bedroom. Not even for his Felicity.

“I’m sorry,” She didn’t seem frightened by his outburst, but severely disappointed. “I’m sorry, Al Sah-him.”

He winced when she called him by his league given name again and he caught himself wishing, he could give her the right to call him whatever she wanted.

“I’m not going to even pretend to know how it feels like to be brain washed. Ugh, brain washing sounds so creepy and not so fun.” Her face cringed in disgust. And, he wondered, how it was still possible for her to look so erotic, even with her scrunched up nose.  

 “But, I do understand why you don’t want to be connected with your past anymore. Sometimes we run from our past, because we think those memories could make us weaker. Sometimes we run, because the memories are just… well, painful,“ She paused and stared blankly at the Bratva Symbol that was tattooed on his chest.

“Felicity?” He lifted her face by her chin. There were tears pooling in the corner of her eyes.

As much as he didn’t think it was a good idea for him to know about her past, he realized he hated seeing her this distraught even more. He wanted to know what was bothering her right away, so that he could take that pain away from her.

“My father was an assassin in the league.” She blurted, her eyes falling to her empty hands resting on his lap.

"Felicity..." He caught her right hand and gave it a slight reassuring squeeze.

“Twenty four years ago… my father was Ra’s Al Ghul’s right hand man. He fell in love with my mother while he was on a mission in Vegas. Long story short, nine months later, I was born. Being a league member, my father obviously couldn't stick around. He would visit us in secret - once a month. But he never stayed with us for more than a few hours… But, when I was about six, Ra’s found out that his right hand man had secret life. He ordered us both to be killed. The worst part about it was, he wanted my father to do the job. He apparently wanted to test where my father's loyalty lies” A tear rolled down her cheek and she wiped it away from the back of her hand. 

“Felicity, you don’t have to-“

 Despite his tries to stop her and despite the tears that cascaded down her cheeks, she soldiered on with her story, “and, when my father couldn’t do it, Ra’s killed my mother himself. I saw his sword go right through her heart.”

He smeared her tears away with his palm. He couldn’t believe his Felicity, the only light in his life had gone through something so horrendous. How she had managed to stay so lively and happy irregardless of what she had faced, amazed him. 

“My father begged for my life. He asked Ra's to kill him instead. In spite of everything, Ra's still respected my father as a warrior, so he complied to his request and he pardoned me. He promised my father that he would take care of me, since it was my father's last wish before he was killed. I still remember Ra’s dragging me away with the same bloodstained hand that killed my parents. ” She covered her face with her hands failing to keep it together any longer.

“Sh… Sh… “ He cooed as he pulled her into an embrace.

"He killed my parents, Al Sah-Him. He killed them," She sobbed burying her face in his chest.

His hands balled into fists. He was angry.

Angry at Ra’s for what he had done to her. Angry at her father for not standing up to Ra’s. He was angry at the world for letting six year old Felicity go through something so horrible.

“Felicity, هل أنت بخير? [are you ok?]” he asked after awhile, when her crying had come to a stop.

She nodded and gave him a weak smile. “I grew up here, in Nanda Parbat. But, Ra’s never let me train with the others. He said, I was too physicaly weak to be an assassin and he said I would only be useful to warm someone’s bed someday - just like my mother. But, still, being the daughter of his once right hand man and because of the promise he made to my father, he said he couldn’t just hand me over to someone as their concubine. So, he gave me a choice. He told me, I could choose one person whom I wanted to be with and he promised me that he wouldn’t interfere with my choice in anyway. But, he gave me just just three days to choose someone or he would choose someone for me.”

“Did you choose me or did Ra’s make the choice for you?”

“I was planning to run away. I knew they were going to kill me if they ever found me, but I couldn’t just stay here. I was going to use the secret passage behind the temple to escape, but when I got there I heard Ra’s talking with someone.... You... I heard him talking to you Al Sah-Him. I heard him say something about you learning Arabic and, I peeked in through the little crack between the temple doors. That was when I saw you for the first time.”

“And then you chose me?” He was eager to know. 

 “I just... I don’t know why… but, I decided to not to run away that night,.“ She was a blushing furiously and she refused to look at him in the eye.

“So, you chose me?”

“After you left, I told Ra’s that I want to be your Sleeping Dictionary. I didn’t know you were Warith Al Ghul until then. " A smile graced her lips for some reason, as she continued with her tale. "Ra’s wasn't that happy about my choice, but he honored his word nonetheless.”

 “So you did choose me?” There was something about the fact that she had come to his room by her own will that made his heart soar with something close to happiness.

“I guess… you could say that,”  She leaned forward and kissed him. 

He kissed her back, his tongue coaxing her sweet lips to open.

 "Uh..." With a little moan, she gave in and let him taste her. 

She was no doubt the most sweetest and addictive thing he had ever tasted. "Uh," a small satisfied groan escape him and he kissed her even more greedily - hands kneading her round ass.

She rocked her hips and grinded her core against him. He loved the feel of her skin, the feel of her breasts, the feel of her lips pressed against him. 

"hmm!" she  moaned as they finally broke apart to breath,

  “I have a gift for you.” He panted, suddenly  remembering the reason he had been so eager to see her tonight.

"هدية?"[A gift?]" She was still a bit breathy and her lips were swollen, red and still wet from their kiss.

He tucked a stray strand behind her ear and directed her attention to the little wooden box resting on one of the shelves. “Yes, in that small box.”

“Are you sure something's really in there or are you just saying that because you like to watch me walk around naked in your room?” She stepped out of the bed and went to fetch her gift.

“Both…” He smiled as he admired her beautiful smooth back and her bare ass from his bed. Oh, how glad he was that she hadn't run away that night and she had chosen him.

She opened the box and took out he necklace he had placed  inside. “Al Sah-Him… I’m… this is…” She put the box back in its original place and slowly climbed back into the bed with the necklace dangling from her hand. “where did you get it?”

He took the necklace from her and draped it around her neck. Its arrowhead shaped pendant fell between her breasts, just like he had thought it would. 

It looked perfect on her. 

“I made it,” He said with a sense of pride.

He had been in the weapons room, sharpening his arrows, when suddenly, he had felt this strange urge to make a smaller version of the arrowhead mark that was burned into the skin of his back. At the time, when he was making it, he hadn’t known what was driving him to do it or why he was doing it. But, when he had finished carving the Arabic scripts that spelled Al Sah-Him onto the arrowhead, he had simply decided that it would look great hanging down Felicity’s neck. 

“It’s… “ Her brow furrowed as her fingers examined the delicate carvings upon the pendent.

“You don’t like it?”  What was he thinking? What girl would like to wear an arrowhead around her neck.? And that too, made of the toughest and the most hideous looking material ever.

“No! I love it…it’s the most beautiful gift anyone has ever given me…. But... it’s that... It’s your mark Al-Sah-Him. And they’ll know you gave it to me.”

He lunged at her, making her fall on her back on the bed. “Good… So, they will know you are not to be touched.” His lips smashed into hers, taking her mouth in a brutal kiss.

 “I don’t think Ra’s will see it that way. I can’t take this.” She gently pushed him away and took the necklace off.

“Felicity?” If he had been Oliver Queen, he figured his heart would have broken right then.

“You should wear it." She opened his fist and placed the necklace in his palm. "Maybe one day when you become Ra’s you can give it back to me. Or will you forget me when you become the almighty Ra’s?” 

“I don’t think it's ever going to be possible for me to forget you… Not your eyes…” He kissed her eye lids and then kissed the tip of her nose. “Not your nose…. your mouth فمك … ترقوة [collarbone]… الثديين [breasts]…" He glided down her body, licking and tasting every part he named.  “معدة [stomach]… سرة [naval] … and…” he stopped at her sex. She still hadn’t told him the Arabic word for it. 

He looked at her blushing face and knew he was not going to learn that word tonight either.

So, he bent down and suckled on her clit - making her shiver and writhe upon the disheveled sheets,

When she reached her climax for the third time, later that night- while he thrust deep in to her, he thought he heard her call him Oliver. And that thought alone had been enough to get him over the edge.

The next hour or so they spent snuggled close to each other in silence.

He couldn't sleep and he knew she wasn't asleep either.

“I heard Ra’s wants you to bring his daughter back?” Felicity asked wrapping an arm around his middle.

Ra's wanted his daughter brought back and then possibly killed, because he didn't want anyone threatening Al Sah-Him's position in the league. And Ra's had said bringing Nyssa back to Nanda Parbat, was just one of many tests that he would be put through to see if he was ready to take his rightful place as the next demon's head

"It's not going to be easy. Nyssa has made friends in Starling.” 

“You’ll find a way. إننيأثقبك. that means I believe in you,”                

“Are we really going to do another lesson now?” He wasn't in the mood to learn anything now. The sun was going to be up in  a little while and that only meant he would have to wait seven more days to see Felicity again. And, he discovered that lately, he had been feeling restless as he waited for the next Wednesday to arrive. Days seemed longer and hours went by too slowly.

“No, that was not a lesson” She uttered softly and placed a feather light kiss on his lips. Her words made him feel something deep - something Al Sah-Him nor Oliver Queen probably hadn't felt ever before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope it wasn't boring. I will post the last chapter soon. And I'd love to hear your thought.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking such a long time. This was supposed to be the last chapter. But Since I haven't updated in a while. I decided to post whatever i have written so far.
> 
> This is NOT BETA READ
> 
> Thanks google translator for the Russian and Arabic
> 
> +++++ I'm not going in the same direction as the show with the Oliver and Nyssa wedding. Hope you guys trust me and keep reading until the end

12th May 2010

Felicity had never been late for their Arabic lessons. She had always been there when Al Sah-Him returned to Nanda Parbat from whatever mission Ra’s had sent him off to. He would find her in his room, either looking out the window wearing her usual scarlet robe, or in his bed naked, with her hair sprawled across his pillows.

However, tonight, it had almost been half an hour since his return and still there had been no sign of his blond dictionary.

“أين أنت?” [Where are you?] Al Sah-Him paced about his room, worrying over her. He was sure that by now, news about Ra’s wanting to see his heir betrothed to his daughter, had reached all corners of Nanda Parbat. And, he feared that could be why Felicity hadn’t shown up for their usual Arabic lesson.

* * *

 

 _“You shall marry my daughter, so that one day there will be a true heir to the demon,” Ra’s had demanded, after learning that Warith al Ghul had finally managed to bring his daughter back to Nanda Parbat._ _To say that Al Sah-Him had been shocked  by Ra's al Ghul's demands would have been an understatement. He had thought that Ra's would have wanted to see his daughter beheaded or at least imprisoned. He hadn't thought that Ra's_ _would arrange a marriage between the two of them instead._

_“The wedding will take place next Wednesday!” When the Demon's Head had uttered those words, not but few hours ago, Al Sah-Him’s thoughts had instantly gone to his Felicity._

_What would become of her, if this marriage were to happen? What would become of them? What would become of their lessons? How was he going to survive, if he didn’t have another Wednesday night with Felicity to look forward to?_

_That moment on he had wanted to do nothing else but, go and find Felicity. Run to her. Talk to her. Kiss her._

_Alas, she hadn’t been in his room like she was supposed to be._

* * *

 

He sighed and looked about the room. It seemed colder, darker and lonelier, all of a sudden. And, that he figured was what his future would be, if he were to marry Nyssa – if he were to lead a life without his blond dictionary by his side.

He ran a hand over his face in frustration. If Felicity didn’t show up at his door within the next few minutes he was sure he was going to lose his mind.

 It was then that he saw the red tube of lipstick lying on his bedside stand. It flickered, cutting through the darkness as if to offer him a glimmer of hope.

 He plucked the small red stick, which he had bought for Felicity, just last week from Starling. He may have gone to Starling City in search of Nyssa that night, but what he had brought home had only been a tube of lipstick.

* * *

 

_He had remembered Felicity once confessing to never owning any kind of makeup, since it wasn’t something that was usually included in the league’s shopping list. Thus, when he had seen that lipstick through a widow of a small shop in Starling, he had simply threatened some punk on the street to go into the shop and buy it for him._

_He could still remember how the man had stared at him - at the big scary assassin, when he had shoved a few hundred dollar bills at him and told him to go buy a lipstick. Al Sah-Him hadn’t cared how ridiculous he may have appeared to the world that moment. All he had wanted had been to see that red, painted across Felicity’s lips, one way or another._

_“I can’t believe you got me a lipstick!” Her eyes had lit up when he had placed that lipstick on her palm. “And it matches my robe too!” She had kissed his cheek and then had gone off looking for something that could substitute for a mirror - because, being the self-loathing man that he was, he had removed all the mirrors from his room._

_He hated mirrors. They showed a man he didn’t recognize - a heartless, soulless monster. The only time he didn’t hate his reflection was when he saw himself in Felicity’s eyes. Her eyes showed the man he wanted to be - the man he could have been if he wasn’t Warith al Ghul._

_“I guess this will have to do,” A silver fruit platter was chosen as her stand in mirror._

_At first, her unpracticed hands had trembled a little as she painted the color onto her lips. But, it hadn’t taken her that long to master the technique. “How do I look?” She had turned to him with her lips pursed._

“جميل” [ _beautiful_ ] _With just a couple of long strides, he had closed the gap between them. “So beautiful,” he had pushed her robe off her shoulders and guided it along her arms until it had fallen to the floor._

_A blush almost as deep as the color of her lipstick had taken over her otherwise pale skin. “I really wish I could wear this… your mark… freely. For everyone to see,” Her hand had roamed up his bare torso and had stopped, after finding the arrow head shaped pendant, dangling down from his neck._

_“You will…one day. And everyone will know that you are mine.” He had taken the necklace off and put it on her neck, where it truly belonged._ “فقط ملكى“ [ _Just mine] He  had whispered before crashing his lips against her deep red ones._

_He had sought to hear her say those words back to him – to hear her say that he was hers too. But, he had known that she wouldn’t and why. She wrongly thought that while Warith al Ghul could lay claim to his sleeping dictionary, a sleeping dictionary such as herself, had no such right to lay claim to a man of his position._

_He had wanted to dispel that thought from her head. He had wanted to tell her that she shouldn’t think that way – that she meant more to him than a dictionary. Hell, she probably was the only thing in the world that meant anything to him._

_The revelation had startled him and he had needed to take a step back. He had realized, for the last couple of weeks – No! for  the last couple of months, or maybe for even longer than that, his thoughts had been venturing into a dangerous territory._

_“Al Sah-Him? What’s wrong?” He remembered her gazing at him, looking somewhat confused._

_“Nothing,” That hadn't been a lie.  Nothing had been wrong. Everything had just felt right and that had just scared him._

_"You have some lipstick on you," Yet, when she had stepped up to him and wiped the traces of their earlier kiss with her fingers, he had forgotten why he had been so scared in the first place._

_“Я люблю тебя,” [I love you]he didn’t know, why he had thought saying those three words in Russian would make it any less real or meaningful. He didn’t know, why he had thought saying those words in a language Felicity didn’t understand would keep her safe. He didn’t know why in spite of it all Felicity had stared up at him as if she understood every word he had said._

_"Oh? Did you just say..." she had blinked as if she was trying to wake herself up from a dream. "Did you just say... something in Russian?"_

_He nodded ignoring the way his heart beated - million lub-dubs per a minute._

_"I'm guessing it has something to do with this?" Her hand had come to rest over his fast beating heart and for a second he had thought she was talking about his heart itself . He had thought that she was asking if the meaning of those three Russian words, had something to do with the way his heart thumped in his chest. However, when he had looked down and seen her delicate hand covering his Bratva tattoo, he had realized she had been talking about the brotherhood and its connection to his Russian - not about his heart and its connection to the Russian words he had just mumbled._ _He had felt both relieved and disappointed that she hadn't been asking after the meaning of those three Russian words._

 _"I think so," He had shrugged. He may remember the language, but he didn't know how he had learned it. He didn't remember what liaisons Oliver Queen had made with the Bratva or how he had earned_ _himself a tattoo on his chest or how he had come to speak Russian so fluently._

_"Maybe... one day, you can be my Sleeping Dictionary. You can teach me Russian,"  she had teased._

_He had more than liked the idea of being her teacher for a change, "I'd love to... let's start now...поцелуй"  [kiss]  He had kissed her before telling her its meaning._

_"поцелуй" _[kiss]_ She had repeated. _

_He had kissed her again and had pulled away only to run his thumb over her lips - smearing the lipstick she had just put on. "красный ... Red,"_

_" _расный "  [Red] _She had said kissing his lipstick covered thumb.___

___"глаза... means eyes,"  Her eye lids had flutterered and shut, when he had leaned forward to kiss them._ _ _

___"Those are the same words I taught you on our first night together."_ _ _

___"I know,"_ _ _ _Th_ _at night he had made love to her and had come to the realization that it wasn’t the first time he had made  love to her.  He had come to the realization that it had never been just sex with her. There had always been more to it than just sex - even on that first night she showed up in his chamber claiming to be his sleeping dictionary._

* * *

 

“I’m sorry,” Felicity’s voice woke him up from his musings and the lipstick slipped from his hand.

When he turned around and saw her standing in his room, he let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding all this while.  “Felicity,” he practically ran to her and hugged her small frame as tightly as he could. “I was afraid you would never show up here again.”

“I’m sorry I'm late,” she mumbled into his chest and he pulled away a little to look at her.

The red eyes and the pale face, told him that she had been crying. “Felicity, I… wanted to-“

“I want to request for this to be our last lesson Al Sah-Him.” She didn’t meet his eyes, but there was a note of finality to her voice.

“If this is about whatever you heard about Nyssa and I-“

“You don’t owe me any explanations. You are Warith al Ghul and I’m just… I’m just your sleeping dictionary,” She finally looked up at him – tears welling up in her eyes.

“Don’t say that Felicity! You know that’s not true,” he tried to convince her with a kiss, but she pushed him back and wriggled away from him.

“If you want to continue the lessons after you’re married, I… I can’t oppose… because you are my master. But I hope you’ll understand why I want tonight to be our last.”

“Felicity! Do you really believe that these nights have only been lessons for me?”

“Even if it ever meant more… It can’t. Not anymore. Ra’s wants to-“

“I don’t care about what Ra’s wants!” He yelled, stepping forward and cupping her face, “I care about you…” he said softly.

“You… I… But-“  She muttered incomprehensibly, her eye lids fluttering.

“That’s why I refused to marry his daughter.  That’s why I challenged him to a duel.”

“You did what?”

He kissed her temple hoping to erase the worried lines, “I wanted to come and find you and tell you that the marriage between Nyssa and I, is not happening. But, I was afraid Ra’s would find out that you are the reason I refused to marry Nyssa if I suddenly went looking for you. I didn’t want him to do what he did to your mother.”

“But, why… why didn’t I hear about this… this duel?”

 “There was no one in the room with us when I challenged him. So, no one knows about it yet. I’m sorry for letting you believe, I would just go through this marriage – for letting you believe I didn’t care about you when it’s the opposite.”

She smiled a little, but then tears started to roll down her cheeks, “But, you can’t do this. Tell him you don’t want the duel and it was a mistake. Tell Ra’s you’ll marry Nyssa…”

“I can’t do that Felicity. I can’t marry Nyssa.”

“I don’t want to lose you Al Sah-Him."

“I’ll be alright, Felicity.”

“Promise me?”

As sure as he was about his swordsmanship he couldn’t make that promise to her. Ra’s al Ghul was one of the most dangerous men in the world. He had supposedly lived for more than a century. So even if Al Sah-Him thought he had a fair chance of coming out of it alive, he couldn’t make that promise to her. All he could do was, kiss her and hope it wasn’t their last kiss – make love to her and hope it wasn’t the last time.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks guys. You all are so awesome. I'm blown away by the response to this story. xoxo. There would be just one more chapter after this. (I keep saying this but, this story keeps getting longer. ) When I started this story, Felicity was just supposed to teach him three sentences at the end of each chapter. I trust you, I believe in you and I love you. Then Al Sah-Him just decided to say I love you in Russian and it changed the whole plot.
> 
>  And last time some one pointed a mistake in the Arabic lines. Instead of "just mine" it has said "land mines" LOL I corrected it now. (you failed this story google translate!) But I don't have any choice but to use google translate at the moment. But if any of you guys know Arabic and see any mistakes let me know. 
> 
> Thank you to that person who helped me! :)
> 
> And sorry for the errors as I didn't beta this yet.
> 
> If someone would like to beta these 4 chapters for me, message me on my tumblr. Thanks in advance.
> 
> ************************************IMPORTANT*********************************..
> 
> Anyway, I borrowed few things from the show, hope you won't get confused with the time line. Even if you do get confused, don't worry I'll explain how those things happened in the next chapter. JUST REMEMBER THIS IS AN AU.

_19 th May 2010_

The forthcoming duel had been the talk of Nanda Parbat the whole week. It seemed that everyone who was anyone in Nanda Parbat was curious as to why Al Sah-Him had challenged their leader for a second time, when he already owned the title of Warith al Ghul. 

From the way everyone looked at him, he was sure that they all thought he had gone insane. He could clearly see that no one believed that he would be as lucky as he had been the first time he had fought Ra’s.

Al Sah-Him remembered very little of that famous first duel with Ra's and had no clue whatsoever why Oliver Queen had prompted that fight to begin with. However, as time closed in on their second duel, he started to remember more and more about how their first duel had ended.

He could now remember the sharp, blinding pain he felt when Ra's had delved his sword through his chest that day.

He could sometimes even hear what Ra’s had chanted, before kicking his bleeding and defeated body off a cliff. _“Don't be afraid, my son. Death comes for us all. We can only evade it so long. Consider this an honorable exit._ اغفروارحماللهعليهوسلم. عذروالعفوعنه. جعلالشرفاءاستقباله. حمايةلهمنعذابالقبروعذابالنار.” _[Forgive and have mercy upon him. Excuse and pardon him. Make honorable his reception. Protect him from the punishment of the grave and the torment of fire.]_

He remembered thinking it was going to be his end.  And, it had been, in away. It had been the end of Oliver Queen.

He didn't know how these memories had managed to resurface against the power of the brain washing herb. Maybe he had grown immune to it. Maybe it had been impossible to completely erase these memories as they marked the birth of Al Sah-Him. Either way, this was one memory he really wished he didn't remember at all. Because, even if he had always tried to think of Oliver Queen and Al Sah-Him as two different people and not two parts of the same person, Oliver Queen’s defeat had now started to mess with his psyche. It had begun to gnaw at him, his every waking hour.

Though Al Sah-Him was more than sure he was a better swordsman than Oliver Queen had ever been, those memories mocked him.  They were starting to make him doubt himself.

Honestly, he had never believed in the crazy old prophecy that said, whoever survived Ra’s al Ghul’s sword was destined to be his heir. He had gone along with the prophecy, simply because he had thought he had no other choice. Oliver Queen had chosen this path for him, for whatever reason and Al Sah-Him used to believe he could do nothing but walk that path.

Al Sah-Him  knew, many would probably consider being able to survive a duel with Ra’s to be lucky. But, for the longest time, he had thought he had been an unfortunate man to have survived it and then to have been named the heir to the demon. And, in the very beginning, he used to feel that he would have been better off dead. 

Yet, that all had changed that fateful Wednesday night – the night, which Felicity had literally walked into his life. And now, he was more than certain that it had been his destiny to live through that fight. He was more than certain he was meant to survive that fight just so that he could meet his Felicity.

She had given him a purpose to live and had somehow helped him realize he could be more than just another soulless drone in the league. She had managed to wake up something within him - a part of him he had thought he had lost.

 “Al Sah-Him, it’s time.” Sarab, his most loyal follower handed him his sword. “Ra’s is waiting for you.” Sarab was a man of few words and like most men in the league, Al Sah-Him knew that he too must have come to Nanda Parbat to escape the demons of his former life. Thus, he had never tried to probe Sarab on his past. Nonetheless, somewhere in the corner of Al Sah-Him’s mind, he had a feeling that Oliver Queen’s past was in some way linked to Sarab’s. He in fact felt that it probably was that affiliation that had earned him Sarab’s loyalty.

However, it had been after Felicity had come into his life that he had slowly learned to accept, trust and appreciate Sarab’s allegiance. Before her, every face had been just another target, a threat or a pawn to him. But, now, because of her, he could almost see Sarab as a friend, a brother.

“Thank you Sarab. If something happens to me-“

“I’ll make sure your beloved Muskan is taken to safety. I’ll make sure she’s safe.” He promised.

Al Sah-Him gave Sarab a thankful smile and walked through the passageway that led to the Nanda Parbat fighting arena.

 It was no Colosseum, but it was still large enough to hold every assassin in the league and then some. As a matter of fact, it seemed as if the whole of Nanda Parbat had gathered there tonight - from the highest ranking assassins in the league to the youngest servant whose job was merely to polish their boots.

However, his eyes only searched for one thing and one thing only amongst the large crowd clad in all black – that hint of red, which had always given him hope - that hint of red, which had always stood out from the rest - which had always made his heart beat hard and loud in his chest.

 But, he couldn’t see that red anywhere. He couldn’t find her anywhere.  

 “I see that you’ve already chosen your weapon?” Ra’s appeared from the other end of the arena, escorted by two of his minions.

“I have.” Al Sah-Him threw the sword aside to take his shirt off and get ready for the battle -  his eyes, all the while combing through the crowd, in the hopes of catching a glimpse of Felicity.

She was supposed to be there.

Last night, she had promised she would be there, watching the duel from the farthest corner of the arena. Yet, he couldn’t find her now.

His hand went to the small arrow head hanging down his neck.

He couldn’t stop thinking about their last meeting –about the promises they had made and about the promises he had wanted to make, but could never say out loud.

* * *

 

_Before last night, he had never met Felicity other than on a Wednesday night. Nor had he ever dared to meet her in her room at the Servants' Quarters. He had been afraid that it would become a very dangerous habit. But, considering what was about to take place the next day, he had thrown caution to the wind and had gone there looking for her._

_He had known it was a bad idea, but he hadn’t been able to stop himself. He had wanted to see her before the big fight somehow and thus, last night, for the very first time, he had gone to her room – snuck into it, to be more precise._

_He had donned Sarab’s uniform and mask as a means of a disguise and then had crawled into her room through her window. Her room had looked almost exactly the same as he had imagined it would be. Just a little smaller perhaps._

_She had lit only one candle and that too had looked as if it would die out any moment._

_There were books everywhere – stacks and stacks of books. And, she had fallen asleep upon the sea of books, which she had spread about her bed. She had looked like an angel with her blonde hair fanned out over the large opened book that lay next to her._

_The way her white night gown had ridden up, revealing her well-toned legs, had deepened the yearning he had been feeling for her. He had never seen her in anything other than her red robe before. But, he had found himself loving this version of Felicity -  just as much as the version of her that had shown up in his room every Wednesday night, for the last five months or so._

_Pulling his gloves off with his teeth he had moved closer to her._

_The beads of sweat on her sweet face, had him worried. “No! No! Don’t hurt him… No!” She had fidgeted in her sleep, hands clinging hard on to the book she had been holding close to her chest._

_When he had tried to reach out and calm her, she had woken up startled - sensing the presence of the intruder that had been lingering about her bed._

_Screaming, she had jumped out from the other side of the bed - making sure her 4 feet wide bed stood between herself and the man who she thought was a stranger._ “لاتأتيأيأقرب !” _[Don’t come any closer!]  She had held her book high over her head as if she was planning to whack a mosquito with it._

 _“من أنت؟_  " _[who are you?]  Corners of her sleep laden eyes had crinkled as she tried to identify the stranger in her room._

_He had smiled under the cover of his mask as his eyes raked over her.  The dwindling light of the candle behind her had helped him see through the flimsy material of her night gown just perfectly. “ رائع” [Gorgeous] She hadn't obviously worn anything under that gown and he had found himself salivating like a hungry wolf at the sight of a very tempting prey._

_“Al Sah-Him?” her eyes had sparkled with tears of delight the moment the realization had hit her._

_“Took you long enough.” Few quick steps and he had pushed her against the book shelf behind her – the impact causing few of the smaller books to fall around them._

_The cold wind that had gushed in through the window had put that one dying candle out of its misery. Though the room had turned darker all of a sudden, they still had been able to see each other from the faint light that had streamed in through the window._

_“What are you doing here? Not that I’m not ecstatic to see you. I mean I wanted to sneak into your room too. But, you said we shouldn’t meet until the duel was over? You said it won’t be safe for me to come there? Is everything alright? Are you alright?” she had babbled, still holding onto her book tightly - keeping it pressed against her chest and hiding its title as if it held some deep dark secret that she didn’t want him to find out._

_“I couldn’t stay away. I had to see you. I wanted to see you. I wanted to kiss you…. Hold you…Touch you.”_

_“Ah...” She had gasped realizing that his crafty hands had crawled under her dress._

_“I don’t know how I 've even managed to stay six days without seeing you, Felicity. I don’t remember how I used to do it – wait for you – wait for you to show up in my room every Wednesday night.” His hands had glided up her body, bunching the white material of her gown over her stomach._

_“I don’t remember how I used to wait either.” Her book had fallen from her hands, the second he had pressed his growing erection against her sex._

_“I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, Felicity.” He had grabbed her by her waist tightly. “I might not be able to surv- We might not be able to -“_

_“Don’t!” She had shushed him - ripping his mask away and then pressing her lips against his. “Don’t say that!”_

_It was only then, when her face had been just inches away from his, that he had noticed that something was amiss with her._

_“Felicity? When’s the last time you’ve eaten something? Are you OK?” He had let go of her waist and had cradled her face in his hands._

_“I am. Now that you are here… with me.” She had caught him by his hand and guided him towards her bed._

_“Are you sure you’re OK?”_

_She had pushed all the books off her bed before turning around to face him again. He may have been imagining things, but it had almost felt as if she hadn’t wanted him to see what she had been reading. “I’m ok. I promise.” With one tug, she had torn his jacket open._

_“But, something’s not right.”_

_“Al Sah-Him, you’re going to duel with the man, who killed my parents in front of my eyes. So, of course, something’s not right.” She had proceeded to take his shirt off, her eyes evading his._

_He hadn’t wanted to push her on that subject anymore. One little push would have made her cry – would have made those tears she had been trying so hard to keep locked in her eyes finally fall._

_“Oh, Felicity…” He had pulled her into a hug instead, wrapping his arms around her small frame._

_“أحبك." [I love you] She had murmured into his bare chest._

_Though, it had been the first time he had ever heard her say those three words in that order, he hadn't needed a translation. He wouldn't have needed a translation even if he hadn't known a word of Arabic. His heart had felt its meaning._

_“Felicity…” Pulling away just a little, he had lifted her face to him._

_Staring into her beautiful eyes, he had wanted to promise that he would beat Ra’s. He had wanted to promise that when it was all over they would run away to somewhere safe. He had wanted to promise her children, a home, a dog and a cat if she ever wanted one. But, he hadn't. It would not have been right to have made such promises that he wasn't sure he would be able to keep._

_"I love you." He had kissed her slowly and deeply, holding her by her waist, lifting her feet off the ground._

_“Hmm…” She had hummed, her lips parting from his only to breathe._

_As they stared at each other, her forehead resting on his, he had known that they both wanted the same thing – to become one, to make love to the other._

_He had tried to move them both to the bed, but his foot had hit a stack of books nearby, causing him to trip and fall on to the bed with Felicity._

_“Where did you get all these books from?” He had asked the blonde who had somehow ended up straddling him._

_“Most of them used to belong to my father.  He was apparently an avid reader. He had a collection ranging from Shakespeare to every form of sciences ever known to man. All these books that you see here, they are my window to the world. This is how I learned about the world outside of Nanda Parbat._

_But, some of them are his journals. Some of them are my journals. Some of them I got from one of the monks from the Buddhist temple just outside of the fortress. I sometimes sneak out from here and go to the temple. He gives me a new book or two that he’s gotten from the city, whenever I visit. And, before you tell me, it was careless of me to sneak out like that… you should know, I’ve been sneaking out from here and going to that temple for years,” she had said, leaning over and playfully biting the tip of his nose._

_“So, how many times a week do you normally sneak out to meet this monk?”_

_“Don’t tell me you’re jealous of a monk?” She had gazed at him, with her brows arched. “First of all, he’s sworn to a life of celibacy and second of all he’s more than 65 years old. He’s like a father to me and he was actually the only person who knew about my great escape from Nanda Parbat - the one that never happened. And, lastly but not the least, I’m kind of in love with this other guy, who gets jealous very easily.” she had gigled, her fingers playing with the arrow head pendant resting on his chest._

_“Oh? But, why didn’t you ever ask this guy you are in love with to bring you any books?” He had been jealous of the monk, but not in the way Felicity may have thought. He envied the old man for being a part of her life that he had no knowledge of, but he wished he had been a part of._

_“Because every time, he left Nanda Parbat, it was for a mission - for a battle.” Her fingers danced over the rough edges of his scars. “How can I ask him things, except pray that he returned to me in one piece… unhurt?”_

_Until then, he probably hadn’t known, what Felicity may have gone through every time he had gone off to battle or returned home injured. She had washed and cleaned his wounds few times - had cared for him when he barely had any energy to stand on his two feet, but he hadn’t really thought what she may be thinking while he was away._

_“I’ve always been certain, you’ll come back somehow. I’ve always believed in your skill, your strength. It’s just that I didn’t like seeing you hurt. Because, I know the way you fight. You fight like you have nothing to lose. You fight like your life isn’t worth it. You fight like you believe you deserve the pain.  But, you’re wrong Al Sah-Him, your life is worth it.” She had professed, her eyes boring into his._

_He had then sat up, capturing her lips in the same movement. “I can promise you one thing Felicity. Tomorrow I won’t be fighting like I have nothing to lose.”_

_A smile had graced her lips at his words. “And, I’ll be there in the front row, watching.”_

_“No! I don’t want you there. I don’t want Ra’s to even get a hint of how much you mean to me.” He knew he would feel stronger knowing she was there, but it was too dangerous. Ra’s would know the moment his eyes would meet hers. And, he knew it would be impossible for him to ignore her - act like she wasn't there._

_“But, you can’t expect me to just sit in my room and wait?”_

_“No!”_

_“But, I can’t just stay here. I will… I will watch from a far… from the highest row. I promise.”_

_“But-“_

_“Don’t ask me to stay, please.” She had begged, taking his hands and entwining their fingers together._

_“Alright, but as soon as the battle is over, whatever happens, go to my room and lock the door. Either Sarab or I will come and get you.”_

_“No! You’ll come and get me Al Sah-Him… Only you.” It had been her roundabout way of making him promise to come back to her, and he couldn’t do that._

_“Felicity… I…”_

_“No!” With her lips pouted she had shaken her head._

_“Ok… I’ll come and get you.” How could he have said no to that face, really?_

_“Get us, actually…” She had taken his hand and put it over her small stomach._

_“What?” He had gaped at her confused._

_Had she meant to say, what he thought she had meant? Was that why she had looked so pale and tired?_

_“I wasn’t sure. I mean not about the whole if I’m pregnant thing. Well, I wasn’t really sure at first. I mean it’s not like I can get a pregnancy test around here. Or birth control. I mean I wasn’t sure if I should tell you… with everything that’s been going on.”_

_“How many weeks?” He had rasped, his hand gripping and gathering the material that covered her belly._

_“I’ve been using some kind of a potion the priestess gave me, but obviously it hasn’t worked…. I mean I was being as safe as anyone in Nanda Parbat could. Maybe I should have asked you to bring me birth control pills. Or to get yourself some ehm …protection…And, do you want-”_

_“Felicity! How many weeks?”_

_“If my math is correct, eight weeks…. But, I only realized it last week. And, I didn’t want to burden you with this. And, I’ve been reading all these books about it. Because you know, I want our baby to be healthy and safe. Do you hate me? I mean for waiting till tonight to tell you. For waiting till the last moment, when you have this huge duel with Ra’s tomorrow.” She bit her lower lip nervously._

_“I could never hate you. This just gives me all the more reason to come back to you… come back to both of you.” He had pecked her smiling lips_ _before tugging her night gown over head._

_There was no baby bump yet, but the thought that there was a child - his child growing inside of her made his heart swell up with something indescribable._

_“So there really is a little one of you in there?” Spreading his hand over her stomach, he had looked up at her._

_“Or a little one of you…” Felicity had pointed out._

_He didn’t want his son to grow up to be another Al Sah-Him. There was too much darkness in his world. Too much blood on his hands._

_“A little Oliver?" As always she had understood what had been going through his mind._

_After placing Felicity up on her bed, he had kissed her belly softly. “Yes, a little Oliver.” He liked her suggestion. The idea of a little Oliver felt more right. He didn’t know the sins Oliver Queen may have committed, but he doubted his hands would be as red as his. He doubted Oliver Queen would have killed so many men and women without a grain of remorse like he had._

_"Felicity, thank you.... for everything." Wanting to hear his child make some kind of a sound he had gently rested his head on her stomach. It probably was still too early to hear anything, but he hadn't cared._

* * *

_“_ You seem a little distracted Al Sah-Him?” Ra’s al Ghul’s voice tore him out of his thoughts. “You keep looking at the crowd. Are you looking for someone in particular?”

Al Sah-Him stared at the Demon's Head. The mocking tone in his voice, the raised brow only meant one thing - Ra’s already knew.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. Had some trouble with my laptop and this file got corrupted. This isn't the first time my laptop has done this to me and I started keeping back ups, but I forgot to keep one, this one time and the file got corrupted.
> 
> I was a little lazy to write it again from the beginning. So, anyway here's the next chapter. But, there will be one more. 
> 
> Sorry to keep you guys waiting for so long. I hope to update Cupid's Angel by tonight or by tomorrow morning. 
> 
> Thanks for all the wonderful comments and I always love to hear what you all think. 
> 
> So still there's no beta and all the mistakes are sill mine.  
> Hope you guys don't find this boring.

Al Sah-Him quickly picked his sword up from the ground and held it out in front of him.  He wanted to run across the field and finish them all - cut Ra’s al Ghul’s head off and end everything once and for all. But, he knew he couldn’t. Ra’s had Felicity.  Thus, giving him the upper hand.

 “Where is she?” Al Sah-Him’s roar stunned the crowd into a dead silence.

The two assassins, standing behind the Demon's Head drew their swords out and got ready to defend their leader. Yet, Ra’s himself stood unfazed.  “Nazeer!” With his belittling gaze fixed on his heir, he summoned one of the oldest assassins in the league to the arena.

“لدي هدية لك, Al Sah-Him.” [I have a gift for you] The bearded old assassin walked in few seconds later, dragging a blood and dust covered man along the ground by a rope.

The man was chanting something in Japanese and Al Sah-Him recognized it to be the same rhyme he had heard Sarab mumble at times – right before he put his mask on and went off to battle, with his Katana blade in hand.  

“Forgive me, Al Sah-Him” The injured man looked up at him from the ground.  His face was swollen and was disfigured to the point of being unrecognizable. 

“Sarab?” Al Sah-Him took a cautious step towards his battered friend.

 “إذا كنت ترغب في أن ترى صديقك على قيد الحياة ، وأنا أقترح عليك أن تبقى حيث أنت.” [If you wish to see your friend alive, I suggest you to stay where you are.] Nazeer pulled Sarab on to his feet and held the point of his sword against his neck.

“Let him go!” Al Sah-Him demanded from Ra’s.  

No one in the crowd even dared to move, but their eyes followed their master as he approached Sarab.  “I know Sarab is not at fault for his former self, Maseo’s deeds. I probably would have forgiven him... I probably would have let him go... if only he had tried to help anyone, but her.”

“I do not regret it.” Before Sarab could say anything more, Nazeer had hit him on the back of his head with the hilt of his sword. Blood spilled out of Sarab’s mouth and Al Sah-Him could see that he was struggling to keep standing. 

 “وداع, Sarab.”[Farewell, Sarab.]  Ra’s pulled his sword out of its scabbard and Al Sah-Him knew what exactly was about to happen next. He had witnessed this scene too many times. He himself had done the same too many times.

"私を許して." [Forgive me] Sarab looked up into the sky as if seeking for his God among the clouds.

“No!” Al Sah-Him ran forward to stop Ra’s, but his two minions blocked his path. They swung their heavy swords at him, but their blows lacked tact, power and any form of confidence.  Thus, he managed to duck and fight the two assassins off easily– quickly stabbing one on the leg and kicking the other on his head. 

Yet, when he had turned to Sarab after the fight, Ra's al Ghul's centuries old sword was already sticking out of his chest. He had been too late and Sarab had paid the price for betraying Ra's.

 "I'm sorry Al Sah-Him." Sarab fell to his knees."I… I couldn't keep my promise. I couldn't… I couldn’t keep your Muskan safe..... I heard them planning to take her. I… I tried to stop them and…. I’ve failed you… 私は明夫に失敗したと私はタツに失敗しました.“ [I failed Akio and I failed Tatsu.]

 Al Sah-Him couldn’t help but feel as if he was the one who had failed his friend. It was because of him, Sarab was in this mess to begin with.

 ”But, I’m going to make it up to you in my next life. That’s …. That’s a promise that I Maseo Yamashiro….. make to you. ” Sarab collapsed to the ground coughing up blood. 

“I’m sorry, Maseo.” A powerful wave of guilt over took Al Sah-Him as he watched his comrade close his eyes for the very last time.

“Take him away!” Ra's barked at Nazeer, pulling his sword out of Sarab’s chest. 

“نعم سيدي.” [Yes, Master.] Nazeer bowed his head and dragged Sarab’s body out of the arena.

“And you two, get out of my sight!” Ra’s ordered the two men that Al Sah-Him had beaten earlier and they quickly scrambled off, not wanting to test their master’s patience.

“And now my boy, where were we?” He then set his eyes upon his challenger, shaking Sarab’s blood off his sword as if it was nothing.

“Where is Felicity? What have you done to her?”

“Felicity? Is that what you call her?” The Demon's Head raised his brows at him. “Don’t worry. She’s not dead. I have other plans for her.”

“What other plans?” There were fates worse than death. Al Sah-him had learned that in Nanda Parbat. The dungeons in Nanda Parbat had showed him that. The torture Ra’s put his prisoners through were so painful and intense, the prisoners there longed for death. He could hear them pray for Death every time he walked in those dark passages of the Nanda Parbat dungeons.

Al Sah-Him didn’t want to even to think, that was the kind of future Ra’s had planned for his Felicity. She wouldn't survive down there. 

“She must have told you by now of the promise that I’ve made to her father. So, I cannot very well kill her. But, I can however, give her a penance much worse than death. I’m going to let her live knowing her lover had failed her just like her parents had.  And you’re going to die knowing that your beloved Muska – Felicity, would be spending every night for the rest of her life, in my bed, as my wife.”

“No! If you even touch her-“

“Who knows maybe we may even be blessed with a child – a true heir - someone worthy of the title.” Ra’s al Ghul’s eyes fell to the crowd, where his daughter had been sitting. Her hands were bound by ropes and there were few men standing guard beside her. If she was threatened by the idea of another heir, she didn’t let it show. She just stared back at her father apathetically.

However, Ra’s words had made one thing clear. He didn’t yet know that Felicity was already with child.

Al Sah-Him couldn’t even begin to imagine what he would do, if he were to find out his future bride was already bearing Warith al Ghul’s child.

“Imagine her making love to the man that killed her parents and her lover….“ Ra’s paused, probably wanting to see the effect his words had on the said lover.

“I’m going to kill you, Ra’s!” He wouldn’t let this happen. He couldn’t fail her. He couldn’t let Ra’s do this to her!

Ra’s simply laughed at his threat. “First, let’s call the lady in concern in here, shall we?” He had only needed to say the words and Nazeer was seen entering the arena once again, but this time with a shackled Felicity.

 Al Sah-Him’s vision tunneled to her. “Felicity!” If not for her pleading eyes that reminded him that he couldn't afford to lose control he didn't know what he would have done.  Nazeer had his grubby left hand around her neck and was holding her against him in a lock. The sword in his other hand was pressed against the side of her stomach - not so hard that it would hurt her, but one wrong move, the sword could cause serious damage to her and their child.

“Here she is, the lady in red…” Ra’s walked closer to Felicity, shoving his sword back into the scabbard.

 “Let go of me!” She ground out at the Demon's Head.

Al Sah-Him’s jaws clicked as Ra’s turned Felicity’s face towards him by her chin.  “Let’s get this over with Ra’s!” He yelled hoping to take Ra’s attention away from Felicity.

“So eager to die boy?”

“Eager to regain my freedom! My soul!” Save my love, my child, he wanted to say.

“Freedom? Soul? She put those ideas into your head?”

“Those ideas were already there Ra’s. She just helped me remember them!”

“Don’t you see, Al Sah-Him? She has manipulated you.  She has turned you against me. Just like her mother turned one of my most loyal men against me.” Ra’s walked forward and stopped few feet right in front of him. “The moment you challenged me to another duel I knew she had to be behind this. I’ve been noticing how eager you have been to return to you chamber for the last few weeks. And perhaps, it had been my folly to have let it go on for so long. I should have done something about it the moment I suspected something deeper was going on between my heir and his Sleeping Dictionary. I should have done something the moment I realized she was up to something.”

“If anyone has manipulated anyone it’s you!” Felicity stated loudly with assurance. “You’ve promised these men and women here a new life, but all you’ve ever done is use them! You’ve used everyone here to fulfill your own selfish needs!”

 There was suddenly a buzz among the crowd, as if Felicity’s words had shaken them awake from their deep slumber.

“Enough!” Ra’s snarled at the crowd to silence them. Rage seared in Ra’s eyes as he stomped back towards Felicity. He grabbed her by her hair and ran a finger along her lips, “You are a spirited little thing, just like your mother.” Felicity winced in disgust, as he leaned closer to her and began to whisper.” I remember her talking to me almost the same way, right before I killed her.”

“I hate you!” She pulled her face back a little and spat on his face.

“لا ازدراء سيدنا! " [Do not disrespect our master!] Nazeer brought his sword up to her throat.

“Nazeer! Hurt her and you die!” Al Sah-Him was about to fling his sword at the assassin’s head when Ra’s gestured the older man to lower his weapon.

“It looks like I’m going to have a very fun wedding night.” He then added cockily.

“What wedding night?” As the meaning of Ra’s words slowly sunk in, Felicity's eyes went from confusion to utter dread within the time span of few seconds.

“I won’t let that happen, Felicity!” Al Sah-Him assured her.

 “We’ll see about that won’t we?” The demon's head took his robe off and threw it to the side. Astonishingly, for a man who had lived for so long and had fought many wars, he barely had any scars. Probably, thanks to the healing powers of Lazarus pit Ra's had been using for over a century, but still, Al Sah-Him found himself intimidated by his unscathed body. It made him seem immortal, indestructible. “Get ready to meet your destiny, Al Sah-Him!"   He drew his sword out as he marched towards his adversary.

“Wait! I want to talk to him first!” Felicity’s words stopped Ra’s in his tracks.

“And, why exactly would I let you do that?” He turned to her sharply.

“Because…. Because if my father’s journals are right, as the woman betrothed to Ra’s al Ghul, I reserve the right to request for a gift from you before our wedding.”

“No, Felicity!” Al Sah-Him didn’t want Felicity to accept this ridiculous marriage even for a second – not even if it meant he would get to hold her and talk to her before the duel.

“And this is the gift you desire?’ Ra’s gazed at her surprised.

“What I really want right now is to stop this duel and ask you to let us both go, but I doubt you would actually do that. I’ve lived here long enough to know you follow the rules here only when it suits you. So yes, this is what I want as my gift.”

“Fair enough…” With a slight wave of his hand Ra’s gestured Nazeer to let Felicity go.

The assassin pushed Felicity forward, sending her tumbling towards the ground.  “Are you alright?” Al Sah-Him ran to her and helped her stand.  

She nodded, but her tear filled eyes and her shivering hands gave the truth away.

 “We don’t have to hide anything anymore. Whatever happens to me….  You are mine and, I’m yours.” Al Sah-Him put his necklace on her and tucked a stand of stray hair behind her ear.

She put her hand over his heart and looked into his eyes. “Nothing’s going to happen to you.”

“And, I’m not going to let anything happen to both of you.” He whispered in her ear as his hand coasted over her stomach.

“I know.” She smiled through her tears.

He smiled back at her fondly, touched by her confidence in him and marveling at her ability to make him smile even at a time like this. Her faith in him gave him a new verve, a confidence he didn’t feel a second ago.

 “I love you.” She uttered and for some reason hearing her say those three words back to him in his mother tongue struck a chord deep within him.

He took her face into his hands and caressed her flushed cheeks with his thumbs. He took her image in - every soft line and plane of her face and her spellbinding blue eyes that stared right into his soul. She looked so young, innocent and beautiful. She was his guiding light. She was his hope. She was everything to him.

“Come back to us.”The quiet sob that escaped her made his heart melt and he placed her lips over her soft ones. He relished the little jolts of electricity that ran through his veins as her hands came to rest upon his chest. He savored every gentle caress her lips made against his.

“Hmm… Felicity… I love you.” He drew her closer towards himself. This couldn’t be their last kiss. This couldn't be their last moments together. He wouldn’t let it.

 “That's enough!” At Ra’s words, Nazeer grabbed Felicity by force, breaking them apart.

“Felicity!”

“No!” She cried as Nazeer dragged her away in to a corner.

 “It is time to meet your fate Al Sah-Him.” With those words the duel finally commenced.  

They prowled each other for a while - moving around the arena, waiting for the other to make the first move.

The eerie sound of a hawk flying across the sky gave Al Sah-Him the distraction he needed to attack Ra’s.  However, the man had the reflexes of a cat. He moved away quickly, leaving Al Sah-Him to simply slice the air with his sword.

He turned around and attacked the demon's head again, but he shielded himself with his sword.

 Ra's matched his every strike, every blow.

Every time their swords clashed together, with every spark that ignited out of the sharp blades, Al Sah-Him saw flashes of their first battle. The memories reawakened those same insecurities that had been troubling him for the last few days.  It felt as if Ra’s wasn’t the only demon he was fighting against as his inner demons kept reminding him that he was no much for the great Ra’s al Ghul.

“Being in the league certainly has helped improve your skills, but not enough to defeat me!” Ra’s sword scraped Al Sah-Him’s forearm.

He ignored the pain and just kept fighting. He kept reminding himself of what he was fighting for – for Felicity, for his child, for their future.  

It was only after few minutes into the fight that Al Sah-Him managed to land his first blow on Ra’s.

 The demon head stepped back a little and checked the cut on his midriff. “Something has changed in you.” He panted and that may have been the first time Al Sah-Him had ever seen the demon's head show any sign of wearing out.

“You wouldn’t understand what it is that has changed, even if I tried to explain it to you. You don’t have a heart, Ra’s al Ghul!” Al Sah-Him, tried to kick Ra’s on his stomach, but Ra’s jumped back.

“That maybe. But, you do not win battles with heart, but with your brain … your strength, skill and experience.” Ra’s began to attack again, swinging his blade with more force and speed than before. His momentum caused Al Sah-Him to move backwards as he tried to defend himself.  

The sun was too hot and the wind did nothing but blow sand their eyes. Yet, Ra’s was relentless. It was becoming difficult to keep up with him. “Tired already?” Ra’s mocked.  

In the background, amidst the crowd that cheered their leader on, he could hear Felicity’s small voice - encouraging him, praying for him.

“No!” He wouldn’t give up.

“Then, you will be soon!” Ra’s twirled around and jabbed the sword right under Al Sah-Him’s arm.

He propelled backwards and Ra’s used the opportunity to delve the sword into the side of his stomach. “I’m sorry to do this to you boy. You could have been a great leader.”

Felicity’s sharp shrill was the only thing he heard, before falling to his knees. His eyes began to close and he began to loose his grip on his sword.

* * *

 

_“Ollie!” he saw a small girl with pigtails standing beside him, looking up at him with her big brown eyes._

_It was her, the same girls who he had dreamt of – the girl who he had seen standing by a grave stone crying.  But, she looked a few years younger here. “Speedy?” He didn’t know why he called her that, but her eyes seemed to light up at the name._

_“Don’t go to China with Dad… please!” she begged tugging on his hand._

_“Thea, but I have to go.“ Then it hit him. She was his sister. Thea Dearden Queen.  But, why was he remembering her now? Was he really dying? Was this what people mean when they say that your whole life flashes before you when you are about to die? Is this why he was seeing all of this?_

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, here's the final chapter. I kind of have this feeling that I could have written this better. But, if I rewrite, this will never get done and posted. So, I decided to post the final chapter the way it is. Hope it isn't as bad as I feel it is. 
> 
> I changed some plot points on the show to fit it with mine. The first half of the story is about Oliver's past and it explains how he ended up in Nanda Parbat. If you're not interested in learning that or if it's boring, just skip to the middle. Although Felicity is mentioned almost through out the chapter, Olicity stuff starts at the middle.
> 
> I didn't beta. So, you'll surely find lots of errors. 
> 
> The meaning of the Japanese rhyme is at the end notes, because it's too long. Thea meaning of Arabic words are in brackets within the chapter. As always I used google translator. So, let me know if you know Arabic and found any errors. 
> 
> Enjoy!!

 

 

 

 

_“Ollie!”_

_He saw a small girl with pigtails standing beside him, looking up at him with her big brown eyes._

_It was her, the same girl who he had dreamt of – the girl who he had seen standing by a grave stone crying. But, she looked a few years younger here. “Speedy?” He didn’t know why he called her that, but her eyes seemed to light up at the name._

_“Don’t go to China with Dad… please!” She begged, tugging on his hand._

_“Thea, but I have to go.“ Then it hit him. She was his sister. Thea Dearden Queen. But, why was he remembering her now? Was he really dying? Was this what people mean when they say that your whole life flashes before you when you are about to die? Is this why he was seeing all of this?_

_"Ollie!" The little girl faded away and the next thing he knew he was standing on a dock with a brunette- the girl from the picture, whose name began with 'L'._

_"You're leaving for three weeks. I want to come and say goodbye in person." She kissed him, with a coy smile on her lips. And he kissed her back dutifully. There were no real feelings attached to the kiss other than guilt._

_He was planning to run away to China with the brunette's sister. He was running away from the life the brunette had planned for him - a life he couldn't imagine with her or he hadn't been able to imagine with anyone else at the time. He did care for the girl, but not in the way she probably wanted him to and not in the way the rest of the world wanted him to._

_"In case you get lonely..." She handed him a photograph - the same one that he had found in Oliver Queen's pocket years later._

  _Now, he understood the guilt he had felt whenever he had even touched that photograph._ _Ollie had led this girl on. He had cheated on her with her own sister. How could he have not felt guilty?_

_It all began to make sense to him as he stared at the 2"x2" photo in his hand. He hadn't hung onto her photograph, because he believed in them or their love. If he had been in love with her at any point in time, he wouldn't have cheated on her. He wouldn't have run away with her sister. He had merely been playing a game of what if with the photograph every night._

_What if he hadn't gotten on that boat? Would he have been happy? What if he had moved in with the brunette just as she had wanted? Would he have been happy with her? What if he had decided to go back to college? Would he have become the CEO his mother wanted  him to be? He had asked himself so many questions, but had failed to find an answer back then. However, now that he knew, what it meant to be truly be happy and to be in love, he knew he would have been miserable, if he had stayed and tried to build a life with a woman he clearly wasn't and hadn't been in love with._

_Undoubtedly, his life would have been a whole lot easier if he had chosen to stay. But, his life would have also been meaningless, shallow and more importantly, he probably wouldn't have never met_ "her" - _his light, his love, his happiness and his soul mate, if he hadn't decided to run off to China that day. Sure, given the chance he would have done many things differently, but he couldn't stand the thought of never meeting his Blonde Dictionary._

_He couldn't imagine a life without her._

_He looked around him as everything around him gradually blurred into nothing._

_The dock, the girl, everything disappeared._

_He walked around confused for a while, until moments later, he found himself on a boat with a blonde - the brunette's sister, he presumed._

_Then. he saw their boat sink, the blonde's hand slip from his grasp and his father die, sacrificing himself to save his son._

_Rain, thunder, the hunger and the fear - he felt everything he felt that horrible night as he drifted about in a tiny life boat._

_After what felt like days, he saw an island. "Liyan Yu.." He remembered._

_There, he saw that same blonde, who he had thought had sunk with their boat. She was standing few feet in front of him with another girl._ _A friend, that was what the other girl had been to him on the island, he remembered._

_"Time to choose.." There_ _was a man standing behind the two girls with a gun pointed at them. His thirst for power and his greed was evident on his face. "You have 10 seconds to decide who dies and who lives." The gunman warned before starting the countdown._

_"I can't choose! I don't want to!" He shouted at the gunman._ _However, when the gun was pointed at the blonde, he simply reacted and jumped in front of it to save her._

_"I guess you've made your choice." Not even a second later, he heard a gunshot._

_The other girl was on the ground, bleeding and taking her last breaths when he looked back. "_ _I'm sorry,"_ _As he cried over her unmoving body, the scenery changed once more._

_Another man -a man build and dressed like a soldier, stood before him with his vengeful eyes staring at him._ _He couldn't remember the soldier's name or why he was glaring at him that way, but he remembered shooting an arrow through the soldier's right eye. He remembered feeling as if he had betrayed the man somehow._

_Then chaos surrounded him. He didn't understand what was going on. And, before he got a chance to even try and understand, he found himself in a market in Hong Kong._

_It was loud, yet colorful. Warm, unlike the island._

_He saw Maseo and Tatsu, Maseo's wife there._ _He saw their struggle to keep their son Akio alive and then failing._

_"ねんねんころりよ　おころりよ。ぼうやはよい子だ　ねんねしな。ぼうやのお守りは　どこへ行った。あの山こえて　里へ行った。里のみやげに　何もろうた。でんでん太鼓に　笙の笛。" He heard Tatsu sing, holding her dead son close to her chest. It was the same rhyme Maseo had mumbled ever so often, but now, he remembered the words and the meaning clearly. Now, he knew why that simple rhyme had mattered so much to Maseo._

_As he watched the heart wrenching scene before him, out of nowhere, a snow drop fell on the tip of his nose. He looked up, simply to find many more tiny snow drops following its path._ _As far as he knew, it didn't snow often or at all in Hong Kong, So, he stood staring at the snow drops,  baffled for a while._

_Then, when he eventually looked back down, Maseo ,Tatsu and Akio were no longer there._

_There was only sky and snow._

_"I have a job for you." A bearded man with a heavy Russian accent appeared through the snow._ _It was when the Russian handed him a gun and gave the name of the man that should be killed before midnight, he finally understood where and what he was._

_He was in Russia. He was seeing his time as a Bratva member._

_He saw himself take down his first target._

_He saw himself killing so many men in the name of the brotherhood._

_The Russians called him, "Leontii". It supposedly meant 'lion-like'. He figured he got that name, because of the way he fought. But, whenever he silently followed orders given to him - killed whoever they wanted him to kill, he remembered feeling more like a cowardly fool than a lion._ _While he understood that he had done whatever he had done, only to survive, he remembered thinking his sister and his mother would hate him for the man he had become. He remembered thinking he could now never go back to them again._

_The weather changed once more. The world around him changed once more._

_When he all of a sudden found himself, standing in front of the high rise building owned by his family with a gun tucked under his jacket, he realized, that despite of everything, he had in fact returned to Starling during his Bratva days._

_He couldn't remember the purpose behind his return, but he knew it couldn't be for anything he could be proud of._

_Faces kept morphing into different people he knew, until everything just abruptly stopped and he saw Thea again. She was crying, standing in front of his hollow grave-just like in his nightmares._

_He was touched to see_ _Tommy Merlyn, his friend there to lend her his shoulder._

_He remembered promising himself one thing that day - even if Thea would one day call him a murderer or despise him, he would always do whatever he could do to keep her safe._

_Then, it all came to him in a rush - how he came to know Ra's and how his promise to keep Thea safe had led him to Nanda Parbat._

_While he was in Starling, he had learned that Tommy's dear father, Malcolm Merlyn, had devised a plan with Ra's to destroy Starling- the city his sister lived and the city he grew up in. Thus, he had done the what he thought he could do to stop them both._

_He had killed Malcom Merlyn and had challenged Ra's to a duel._

_He hadn't thought Ra's would accept the challenge. Yet, the man had been too cocky and had promised him, he wouldn't go through with the plan of destroying the city, if he would  just managed to survive._

_And, he had survived the duel, miraculously._

_But, he wasn't sure if Ra's had held his end of the bargain or if the crumbling buildings and the few deserted streets he had seen in Starling, was Ra's doing. But, he now he knew, how exactly he had ended up in Nanda Parbat. He now knew why and how he had become Al Sah-him._

_Everything went pitch black after that realization._

_He felt lost, cold and lonely._

_The sound of a door opening made him turn around.  A burst of light came through the doorway and he saw "_ her" _standing in the middle of it all. His Felicity. Dressed in red -blue eyes peering at him from under her hood._

She was a sight.

_She claimed  that she was his sleeping dictionary and he remembered claiming her as his, on that first night itself._

_He then began to reminisce on their second lesson together with a smile. He had been obsessed with her lips that night, as he was every night. She had told him the Arabic word for lips, but he had been too busy thinking about sucking on her bottom lip to hear it right the first, second and the third time._

_He then, reminisced on their third night together. He had returned to his room injured, his clothes soaked in blood - mostly the blood of those who he had killed._ _He hadn't looked at her face, fearing what he might find there. Disgust? Fear? He didn't want to know.  But, she had led him to the bathtub and had washed all the blood and grime away without even saying a single word._ _However, after tending to his wounds, she had lifted his face up by his chin and had taught him how to say, " _صديق"_   _[friend] for the first time_. _

_He had smiled up at her and repeated the word  - ignoring the voice in his head that told him that "friend" didn't quite sum up who she was or who she would one day become to him._

_Back then, he had been too caught up trying to be Warith al Ghul to realize that she wasn't just teaching him a new language, but also helping him to find himself. She was teaching him to trust, to believe in himself and to love._ _The latter was the easiest to learn. It was easy to fall in love with Felicity._ _Though, he couldn't pin point to the moment as to when he had fallen in love with her, it just felt as if he always had._

_"Al Sah-Him!" There was a note of irritation to her voice as she tugged on his arm._

_They were in his bed chambers, but they were not in bed as they usually would be. Instead, they were sitting in front of his desk and she was trying to teach him to write in Arabic._ _One look at the blank pages, the half burnt candles, and he right away knew what he was seeing now was their fourth Wednesday night together._

_"Concentrate!" She was telling him, pointing at the notebook she had laid out on top of the desk._

_They were both naked and she was sitting on his lap, her back resting against his chest. How on Earth was he supposed to concentrate?_

_"I am concentrating," He kissed her shoulder, cupping her left breast with one hand as the other inched down to her already dripping sex._

_Her head snapped around to him. The fire he saw in in her eyes aroused him more and he kneaded her breast bit more roughly than before._

_"You are not!"  It was the first time she had ever talked to him in that tone - in her_ "loud voice" _as he had later come to call it. He could have thrown her in the dungeons, just for using that tone with him. But, all he had wanted to do right then was to eat her out - taste her sweet juices he could feel on his leg._

_"I am concentrating!" He cupped the soft nub between her legs, "on you.." He added before lightly biting her shoulder._

_She moaned, "You have to learn how to write." Her determination to continue was endearing, but he wasn't about to stop what he was doing._

_He pressed his hand harder on her sex._ _"Ok, then teach me." He squeezed her breast again while running finger along her slit._

__She pressed her legs together and he could feel her spine straighten with determination._  "_ ___Alright then."  She announced and took the pen into her hand.__  _

_He could hear her scribbling, but he was too preoccupied  to see what. He was too busy biting on that sensitive that spot behind her ear, too busy fondling her breasts and teasing her opening. He was too busy trying to hear those little breathy noises she made against the sound of her pen running across the sheet of paper._

__"There..." She threw the pen aside and leaned back with a moan -grinding a little against his hand._ _ _"That's how you write Felicity."_

_His eyes drifted to the Arabic script as he kissed the slope of her neck. She was clever. She knew writing her name would get his attention. "_ _Teach me." He had said, but groaned when she detached his hand from her breasts and put a pen on it instead._

_"Ok.." She gasped, when he slid a finger inside her - a sweet little retribution for pulling his hand away from her breasts so abruptly._

_But, being the determined little blonde dictionary that she was, she somehow managed to put her shaky hand over his and help him copy the word._

_He curved and moved his fingers inside her with every curve they drew upon the paper - with every line they slowly drew together. The letters were large and broken at points and by the time they had reached the last letter of her name, she was already coming. Her back arched a little as the nails on her free hand dug into his leg._ _Another finger, another push and another, she came- drawing the last bit of the last letter with shaky wavy lines._

_It may not have been the neatest hand writing in the world, but those scripts were etched into his mind that night. "Felicity", his felicity._

_Night slowly turned to day and day into night._ _He relived every wonderful Wednesday night he had spent with her._

_" انا اثق بك " [I trust you.]" He saw her teaching him not just the words, but also how to trust someone again._

__"إنني أ ثق ب"_  [I believe in you.] He realized he hadn't  perhaps really believed in himself until the moment she had taught him those word._

_ ""أحبك." He remembered her say those words, wrapped in his embrace last night._ _He remembered watching her sleep the whole night long. He was in awe of her  - at this petite blonde's ability to give him the sense of peace that he truly needed at that moment._

_"Felicity?"  Her image began to dissolve and when he tried to grab a hold of her she completely faded away. "Felicity!"_

_"Oliver..."  He heard her say, but he couldn't see her anywhere._

_"Felicity?" As he scoured the fortress for her,_ _Nanda Parbat transformed into somewhere brighter and calmer._

_"Oliver?"_

_He followed her voice and it took him to a brightly colored bedroom._ _She was standing by a window with her back turned to him. She was wearing a red robe, but it seemed different to the one she usually wore._

_"Oliver," He couldn't ignore the way his heart thumped every time she called him Oliver. It felt right, just as it did the first time she called him by that name._

_"Felicity, what's going on?" He approached her a bit tentatively._

_She finally turned around and his breath hitched at what he saw._ _There was a little giggling baby in her arms -  a blue eyed baby with dirty blonde, almost brownish hair like his own._

_"Come say, good morning to your son, Oliver." She reached out to him with one hand, while she held the baby with the other._

_He took her hand and she came closer to him. "I love you." she said before standing on her tiptoes and giving him a little kiss on his cheek._

_Clutching on to one of his fingers his son giggled again._ _He looked into the child's eyes and then into Felicity's. They were both happy._

_He was happy._

_He knew it was simply a dream, a vision, but everything had felt so tangible, so real._ _This was his future. Their future. This was the future he wanted. The future he was fighting for._ _Now that he had seen a glimpse of what it could be,  he couldn't give up. He wanted live for them, just as he had promised her the night before._

* * *

 

His eyes bolted opened. His vision was still blurry, but somehow he managed to find her - that red, those blond locks, those eyes.  _"_ You're not done! You have to stand up! Stand up and fight!" He could hear her cry from across the arena and he wanted nothing but to go and wipe away her tears at that moment.

Suddenly, the bleeding wound on his arm and stomach felt as if they were nothing. He felt a fire rise within him.

 "More you resist it, more painfully your death will be. Give up Al Sah-him!" Ra's stepped into his line of focus.

He glared straight into the eyes of the Demon's Head. "My name is Oliver Queen!" He wasn't the Ollie who cheated on his girlfriend anymore. He wasn't the Leontii that killed without ever asking why. Neither was he Al Sah-him, the heir to the demon. He was the Oliver Queen that loved and would do anything for those he loved. 

"Oliver Queen died long time ago." Ra's threw his head back and laughed.

Gripping his sword tightly Oliver got to his feet.  "You're wrong! " He seized the opportunity and drove his sword through the Demon Head's chest.

Ra's eyes went wide in shock as he stumbled backwards. "I knew I wasn't wrong to have chosen you as my successor." He fell to his knees, a cocky smile playing on his lips. "Take it...It belongs to you now." He took off the silver ring that symbolized his position as the Demon's Head.

Oliver slowly walked towards him and took the ring into his hand. It may have been just a ring, but he could almost feel the power it held - the weight of all the sins Ra's had committed over the decades, perhaps centuries.

"Finish it." Ra's then bowed his head and handed his sword to Oliver.

"اغفروارحماللهعليهوسلم. عذروالعفوعنه. جعلالشرفاءاستقباله. حمايةلهمنعذابالقبروعذابالنار.” [Forgive and have mercy upon him. Excuse and pardon him. Make honorable his reception. Protect him from the punishment of the grave and the torment of fire.] He uttered before ending Ra's life with his own sword.

He heard gasps. He heard cheers. He saw Nazeer bowing down to him. He saw his Felicity running towards him before it all went black.

* * *

Oliver opened his eyes to the feel of a familiar hand on his cheek." Felicity?" She was lying next to him, on his bed -her head propped up on an elbow while she ran a hand along the planes of his face. He felt an indescribable sense of comfort, possessiveness and a happiness, seeing the necklace he made for her hanging down from her neck.

"Oliver? It's alright if I call you Oliver now, right? Or should I call you Ra's now? Or the Demon Head? Or Mr. Head? Or the most handsome Demon Head ever?"

His ribs hurt, but he still smiled. "I don't want to be the next Ra's. I want to go somewhere far away from here.... If you'll come with me that is.."

She nodded, biting down on her lower lip he loved so much. "Nyssa will be happy to hear that." she quipped as she checked on the dressing that ran around his stomach and arm.

"And you're not?" He raised a brow teasingly. He had no doubt that Felicity didn't want their child to grow up in Nanda Parbat- inside the same walls that had kept her imprisoned her whole life.

"I'm happy wherever you are. You're my home, Oliver." She gently rested her head on the crook of his neck.

"And you're mine." It hurt like hell to even move his arm. But he didn't care. He wrapped it around her waist, bringing her body even more closer to him.

"I love you." She placed a soft kiss on his neck, while she drew patterns over his scarred skin with her fingers. His aching muscles relaxed under her touch as if she had some form of a healing power.

"Felicity,.."أشكرك على ثقتك بي، و إيمانك بي ... و حبك لي .... انا أحبك." [Thank you for trusting me, believing in me... loving me... I love you] She looked up at him just then - eyes full of hopes and dreams. 

"أحبك." [I love you ] She lifted her head and kissed him slowly.

His arm tightened around her tiny waist as he kissed her back. She was his everything and he felt as if he was the luckiest man alive to have her in his arms, to kiss her like so. "I love you." He murmured into her lips.

THE END

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After I finished this chapter, I thought Oliver must have hard on while he was sort of dying. I mean he was thinking about all those nights with Felicity in his room. Lol.
> 
> Meaning of Tatsu's lullaby  
> ××××××××××××××××××××××
> 
> Sleep, baby, sleep, Oh, my baby, sleep,  
> How lovely, how lovely,How nice you are!
> 
> Where's the nurse, where's the girl?Where's your nurse girl?  
> She's gone, she's gone, Far across the hill!
> 
> As a souvenir from her hometown, What did she give you?  
> A toy drum andA small bamboo flute.


End file.
